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Give me a Twitter follow, I will give you a follow too! With the Ottawa Senators having all 3 home games postponed this week, Sens fans will have to wait until Dec. 27th to see their hometown team on the ice in Washington. When you add the NYR and Nashville games that were postponed in November, Ottawa will need to reschedule 5 homes games when all is said and done!
Looking back to Saturday night's game in Philadelphia there were many positives to draw from in a 4-3 OT loss to the Flyers. The Sens' second line was easily their best on the night after a dreadful first period by the entire team that saw them fall behind 2-0. Whatever DJ Smith or the players said to one another, Ottawa came out after the first intermission with a purpose and tied up the game rather quickly as Stutzle and Formenton scored 1:13 apart and we were all square before the four-minute mark of the second period! This showed some maturity from a young group in not allowing the Flyers to get that third goal, negating a bigger mountain to climb as then the game could've got away from Ottawa. Unfortunately, Ottawa gave up a very unlucky goal late in the third period allowing Philly to tie it up after the Sens had gone ahead 3-2 just over a minute earlier.
For the second straight game, the opposition used their checking line to take away the Sens top line but the fact that the Stutzle line was able to rise to the occasion was dynamite to see. There will be nights when other players are needed to raise their level of play. Cue Tyler Ennis, even though he didn't get rewarded on the stat sheet, his speed and strong play on the boards was extremely effective and opened up ice for the team's other lines. Although I still can't understand why Chris Tierney is still in the lineup, it was Ennis who led the 3rd line all night long. While the 4th line continues to give this lineup some balance with their strong physical play.
When looking back at the overtime, outside of the bad first period, this was the most frustrating part of the night to watch the game. The coaching staff needs to recognize when certain players are having a strong game. I have no idea why DJ started the OT with Tkachuk and Norris when it was Stutzle and Formenton that had this team rolling! Stop playing favorites! DJ starts every OT with the same lineup. Over the years, you hear many coaches say when a line or pair is having a terrific night you ride that momentum. To top it off, DJ left Chabot out on the ice after Brady and Josh ended their shift. Chabot was approaching 35 minutes of TOI and we have seen this situation play out badly in the past, as a tired mind and body leads to mental mistakes. Zub should've jumped over those boards to replace Chabot and this is where bench management wins and loses games. We all know how the game ended rather quickly in OT.
At least, Ottawa grabbed 3 of a possible 6 points on this road trip. Let's hope those same mistakes are fixed the next time the same situation occurs! This type of game gives Sens fans hope, with the youth on this team being resilient when the game could've got away from them, they pushed back and recovered from a poor period of hockey. On another positive note, JBD had a very solid outing as his minutes increased each period. He went from 2 min TOI in the 1st period to 7 min TOI in the 2nd period and finished the third period with another ten minutes of TOI. Let the youth movement continue and allow JBD to get some quality NHL experience as Lassi Thomson did during an 11 game stretch not long ago.
It will be interesting to see how Ottawa does after the Christmas break. They have a very tough month of January playing 9 road games compared to 6 home games. Here is a breakdown of how the team has fared so far each month.
Oct. - 3-4-0
Nov. - 1-10-1
Dec. - 5-3-1
After 28 games last year the Sens were 9-17-2 and this season they are one point behind last year's results with a 9-18-1 record. The month of November wasn't kind to Ottawa due to injuries and the covid outbreak. Too bad the NHL didn't react more swiftly when the Sens were dealing with 10 covid cases. You can add San Jose and the NY Islanders to that list of teams who wish that they got the same treatment as other teams are getting now, with other NHL teams having their seasons put on pause with fewer cases!
Thanks for reading. Comments on what to expect from this group after the Christmas break?
Kevin